R. Sugathan, (23 December 1901 – 14 February 1970), popularly known as Sugathansir, was an Indian

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

leader and an early trade unionist of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. He was elected to the Travancore-Cochin Assembly in 1952 (

Alleppey Alappuzha or Alleppey () is the administrative headquarters of Alappuzha district in state of Kerala, India. The Backwaters of Alappuzha are one of the most popular tourist attractions in India which attracts millions of domestic and internat ...

) & 1954 from Maraikkulam (

Mararikulam Mararikulam is a village in India, in the district of Alappuzha, Kerala state. Previously, it was a constituency in the Kerala Legislative Assembly, represented by notable legislators like T. M. Thomas Isaac, V. S. Achuthanandan , former intern ...

), followed by first

Kerala Legislative Assembly The Kerala Legislative Assembly, popularly known as the Kerala Niyamasabha, is the State Assembly of Kerala, one of the 28 states in India. The Assembly is formed by 140 elected representatives. Each elected member represents one of the 140 c ...

elections in 1957 from Karthigapally (

Karthikappally Karthikappally is a village in Alappuzha district in the Indian state of Kerala.Haripad is the headquarter of Karthikappally Taluk. Taluk office is located at revenue tower Haripad. History Karthikappally was once a Buddhist center. Since ...

) in present Alappuzha district, and second assembly also from

as a CPI member.

Early life and education

Born R. Shreedharan in Kerala. After passing his Malayalam Middle school he came under influence of Buddhist doctrine and soon changed his name to R. Sugathan.

Career

He was an active member of the Sahodara Sangham (The Brotherhood Movement), later he left his teaching job at a private school to join

SNDP The Shan Nationalities Democratic Party ( my, ရှမ်းတိုင်းရင်းသားများ ဒီမိုကရက်တစ် ပါတီ ; Abbreviation, abbreviated SNDP), also known as the White Tiger Party or Kya Ph ...

Yogam, where he worked hard to eliminate caste as an institution, and also SNDP's political wing, Ezhava Political League, and when Congress came into existence in the state he became its part. In 1938, he organized coir factory workers into union and was arrested for agitating, and sentenced to two years rigorous imprisonment. Later, he became involved with the

Travancore Labour Association The Travancore Labour Association, which was established in 1922, was the first labour organisation formed in the princely state of Travancore, which now forms a part of the state of Kerala, India. Centred on the coir industry in the town of Alle ...

and finally he left Congress joined the Communist Party in 1942, he was imprisoned twice again in the following years.

Legacy

In 2008, his death anniversary on 14 February was observed as 'flag day' by

Communist Party of India Communist Party of India (CPI) is the oldest Marxist–Leninist communist party in India and one of the nine national parties in the country. The CPI was founded in modern-day Kanpur (formerly known as Cawnpore) on 26 December 1925. H ...

(CPI) at its State conference at

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

References

External links

*
Kerala Legislators, Profiles up to 2006
''p 240'' 1901 births 1970 deaths Trade unionists from Kerala Narayana Guru Communist Party of India politicians from Kerala People from Alappuzha district Indian independence activists from Kerala Indian National Congress politicians from Kerala Kerala MLAs 1957–1959 Kerala MLAs 1960–1964 {{Kerala-CPIndia-politician-stub

Early life and education

Career

Legacy

References

Further reading

External links